"A really pleasant surprise!" Beijing by piglet44

Beijing Travel Guide: 6,188 reviews and 15,387 photos

Lama Temple - Beijing
Lama Temple
Not what I was expecting

People had warned me about pollution, crowding , traffic etc in Beijing and so I was pleasantly surprised by the 5 days we spent there.I found the people to be incredibly warm and helpful,and the city to be easy to travel around , clean and no more polluted than many other cities I have visited.
We visited all the main sites- the Wall, the Temple of heaven, Lama Temple ,the hutongs and Forbidden City, the markets and the Summer Palace. WE only once got stuck in traffic when we took a taxi because we could not find the subway station, and got tired.But all in all we found the subway very cheap and easy , and it was enough to point at the map for people to help us to our destination. We enjoyed every minute of our visit there.
Maybe it was because of the Olympics but we found the place much cleaner than many western cities. And the fact that in the hutongs there are public toilets everywhere is something I wish we had at home! very useful...

  • Last visit to Beijing: May 2008
  • Intro Updated May 17, 2008
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Reviews (12)

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Comments (7)

  • Reply
    iblatt's Profile Photo
    Aug 6, 2010 at 11:26 AM

    Hi Ruthi, starting to read your Beijing page. Closed the deal with Richard and going to contact "Alvin" now. Cheers, Ilan

  • Reply
    SLLiew's Profile Photo
    Apr 6, 2009 at 3:06 PM

    Excellent page of Beijing. I was like you and went to Beijing Olympics despite the warnings and bad presss. Glad I went too :)

  • Reply
    tuff's Profile Photo
    Aug 13, 2008 at 9:13 AM

    Hi Ruth, Glad that you enjoyed Beijing. It's one of my favorite city. Your pictures sure bring back memeries.

  • Reply
    nepalgoods's Profile Photo
    Jul 6, 2008 at 12:23 AM

    Nice page about my favourit city!

  • Reply
    Homanded's Profile Photo
    May 27, 2008 at 1:13 PM

    Great tips! It was great seeing Alvin in the picture with you on the Wall. So glad it all worked out for you both. Homer

  • Reply
    nada1712's Profile Photo
    May 25, 2008 at 4:17 AM

    Glad you enjoyed Beijing. I was wondering if you did go after all!

  • Reply
    albaaust's Profile Photo
    May 22, 2008 at 6:50 AM

    Great start Ruthie. Keep it coming!! Glad you got back safe. Alicex

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